washsaint

Have a West Coast business trip this week. Really excited as I have a 'down' day in San Francisco and have got a top of the range road rental bike booked and will be doing the Alpine Dam Loop and Mt Tam in Marin County. This is truly a stunning part of the world and I really wanted to bike this area when on vacation with the family a couple of years ago. Really hilly and simply stunning views. Highlight of the business trip (at least I hope it is!).

Pathetic, bedwetting muppets! This is our business model and it works well - and we continue to improve. We could offer Mane 200K per week but if he won't sign then it makes no difference. I am sure that the club already has replacements lined up and our squad will continue to get stronger. Liverpool are a way bigger, global club than us. Its the way of the world. If you';re not happy with our progression p**s off and support a 'big' club. Guan said ages ago that both mane and Wanyama were gone.....so why surprised now?

There really are some Saints fans that have an over inflated sense of our place at the top table. We will likely never be in a position to keep our players due to our size and stature. Many players joining us from abroad will see us as a stepping stone to bigger and better (more money) things. Whether we like it or not the likes of Liverpool will always be attractive to players as they have a storied history and are a truly big, global club whereas we are not....even if we are better than them at this point in time. It is frustrating losing players on a regular basis - but that means we are doing something right. And lets face it, our squad is probably the strongest we have ever had . I am very happy that we live within our means and that we are getting stronger year on year. We are doing things the right, sustainable way. Seven/eight years ago we were close to going out of business because of the club doing exactly what so many posters want us to do now. Puel - not a big name but so what? We have an eye for finding the right fit for our club. I think Koeman will not be as successful at Everton: our whole club is based around the same goals so Koeman was good for us and we were good for him. Doubt he will have that same structure at Everton. As for people complaining we are only interested in making a profit - cobblers! We are a well run, sustainable club and everything we have made from sales appears to have been reinvested (fees and wages) so what is the problem?

If he can get Mandy to come to us that would be a great start.............

Just received the headphones and bluetooth speaker. Incredible quality and will definitely buy Veho gear again. Thanks to Veho for their support of Saints - seem like an awesome company.

Let the bedwetting commence.............dear oh dear. What a bunch of wet blankets. We have improved year on year which shows the club knows what it is doing. It is not about one individual (player or manager or coach) and for those mocking the 'Southampton Way'.......it hasn't been too bad for the last 7 years has it? Why not give the club and new manager (whoever that may be) the benefit of the doubt. Lord knows they've earnt the right.

Why not wait and see how it pans out before passing judgement? I am sceptical but hope it works out. Lets be honest.....Pochettino would not have been a household name before Saints and he quickly gained the respect of the players. If it is Puel hopefully he will do the same. Certainly would not have been my choice but its not my choice. The club have got far more right than wrong in recent years so think we all have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Not sure how Puel would be a better fir than FDB but hey ho.

This truly would be a disaster. Having lived in the US the past few years and been subjected to Klinsmann's "style" of play I can guarantee the fans will be restless very quickly. The US mens team has struggled against such heavyweight nations such as Guatemala, jamaica and others. His teams are tedious, defensive and just plain awful. This would be bizarre as he would not seem to tick the boxes we supposedly want ticked.

Klinsmann would be a disaster. Having had to suffer the way he gets the US team to play he has not got a clue. His teams are tedious, defensive and really just plain boring. Would make no sense at all

Same old, same old England. Awful in the big tournaments. Yes, they've qualified for the knock out stages but my god they have looked poor. Clueless in attack, slow, ponderous build up and passing sideways or back instead of really attacking.

Perfect - headphones (last one!) and speaker ordered - incredible value and thanks to Veho for their support of Saints. Seem like a top company

According to some ITKs the fee is 12.5 million....but 1.5 of that goes to Celtic. Similar to we are buying Redmond for 11 million yet it appears common knowledge he has a release clause of 8 million. None of us know or probably ever will know exact numbers and why should we?

gorgeous organized century ride out in Franklin COunty, PA today. Weather was 89 degrees, low humidity and stunning countryside and mountains. All the big rollers for mile 20 to 50 got the legs working hard ready for the 4.5 mile Cat 2 climb at mile 70....lots of folks had gone out too hard and were cramping on the climb or stopping. Fantastic ride and the Centuries out here in the US are great opportunities to meet new people and socialize.....sod going for a super fast time, you meet some great people and far nicer riding in a small group than alone or in a huge group.

I really wanted Rudi just cos of the songs they could play before games....... Puel leaves me cold, Pellegrini could be OK (not sure he is known for giving youth a chance) and know nothing about Pereira but his pedigree seems good

yawn........... We don't know how much Wanyama has been sold for. He was always going. Many seem to forget that Saints are about more than an individual, no matter how talented (or otherwise) they may be. This is why most players struggle (at least for a season) when they leave. Of all the high profile leavers you would have to say Toby is the only one who that could not apply to. Lovren, Shaw, Lallana, Chambers, Morgan and even Clyne have not performed at the same level as they did at Saints. For me this shows that the club are doing a lot of things right - when people leave they are replaced well and we don't seem to miss a beat. Quite what Wanyama will add to that Spurs side I have no idea. He is not as good as he thinks he is.

Wow...if Puel that seems totally underwhelming. Poor win % at all his clubs and no experience outside of France. Would still rather have De Boer over any of the others mentioned

Nice!

Good luck with the treatment. The roads over here are wider than the UK and many are 2/3 lanes wide so groups can be a bit bigger than the UK. However, sure this is the same in the UK, there are some (mainly younger riders) who really are quite full of themselves and refuse to listen to anyone or anything. Last night yelling the usual 'car back' was totally ignored and cars had to follow for 1/2 to 1 mile because riders were choosing to ignore the warnings. Even on the faster rides it is still good to outpace these 'elite' folks when the hills kick in!

Worst group ride I have been on tonight. Over 50 in the 3s - way too many and it was not good. Many in the group were riding 5 or 6 abreast and refusing to move over for cars coming up behind and a lot of drama and anger. Also the group warned by the cops for running a stop sign but chose to ignore the warning. First time experiencing this and think I will go back to the 4s which is a little slower but far more sociable. Unfortunately tonight showed why so many motorists have a problem with cyclists: the few ruining it for the many.

Valverde could be very interesting - he has been linked with Real Madrid (hence the new contract) but the new contract is only until June 2017. Learnt under Cruyff and played for Barcelona and has done really good stuff at Bilbao. Sure this is all made up but sounds like just the sort of manager we would go for and seems to fit the SOuthampton Way.

something obviously is not right. You would have expected the announcement to have been made by now - the fact it hasn't would probably indicate everything has not been agreed yet.

For me, RK undid all the good work he did while here with his outright lying. He flat out lied and has lost all respect because of that (not that he'd give 2 hoots about a handful of Saints fans on a message board). While he did great work I can';t help but remember the dross served up when we were on the losing run, the performances in the Cups and while we got results it was nowhere near as attractive as the football under Pochettino. Time to move on from RK - I couldn't care less if he failed or did well at Everton and am only interested in who we bring in and hoping that they can continue our upwards progress.

I think FDB would be a great fit for us. Young, ambitious, believes in the youth system and speaks good English. Ticks all the boxes and should ensure continuity and is a good name to attract decent players. Sadly, like Adkins before him, I don't believe Howe would have the same sort of pull - and as he has full control at Bournemouth not a good fit because that is not the Southampton way.

This is comedy gold. The old woman Old Nick reappears to roll out his same old tired sh**e that is based on nothing more than his own deluded parallel universe. Crab Lungs reappears with his sky is falling in sh**e. Ditto with the usual suspects who disappeared when things were going well. Even the great Saint Richmond has made a cameo appearance. Some of you are utter dins.......trying to pass off Saints successes as 'luck' and in spite of the backroom team (including Les Reed). On the UI Patred is in his element ripping Reed a new one - conveniently forgetting the role that the whole team has made over the past few years that has resulted in our unprecedented success (7 years of continual improvement). Gotta laugh - quite a few on these boards truly stretch the belief that they are really Saints fans - they seem to revel in it when things are tough.

Dear lord, life goes on: the club is not about one individual. All you people ready to jump off the ledge: is it pure coincidence that we have continued to improve despite the Board you are so quick to put the boot into? Judging by people who are obviously in the know this is something that has been brewing for a while and I am absolutely certain the club have a successor lined up that can, hopefully, continue to move us upwards. The Board are damned if they do and damned of they don't and surprise, surprise the same old suspects pop their heads above the bridge at this time of year every year and then disappear when things go well. RK does not come out of this well and we'll see how he does at a club with much higher expectations.